Junipero Serra Peak, the highest mountain in central California’s Santa Lucia Range and in Monterey County, has long served as both a landmark and a high vantage point. Originally called Santa Lucia Peak and known to the Salinan people as Pimkolam, it received its present official name in 1906. Its summit attracted astronomers for eclipse and transit observations in the 1880s, and a fire lookout was built near the top around 1935. The mountain is also notable for its isolated high-elevation ecology, including rare sugar pine stands and distinctive plant and bird communities. Repeated fires, especially in 1977, 2008, and 2020, have strongly shaped this landscape.